Investigation on Hygroscopic Properties of Laminated Composite Bamboo

The purpose of this study was to investigate the water absorption of laminated compositebamboo. Bamboo fibers as reinforcements for laminate composites came from apus bamboo ((Gigantochloaapus/GA) and wulung bamboo (Gigantochloaatroviolacea/GV). The hygroscopic properties of bamboo in the base, middle, and edge sections were compared and analyzed using the dynamic vapor absorption (DVS) method. The results were analyzed using the parallel exponential kinetics (PEK) model. The results showed that the hygroscopic properties of the fibers between the base, middle, and edge. The percentage of water absorption of apus bamboo laminate composites is higher than that of wulung bamboo laminate composites.The percentage of water absorption of the apus bamboo laminate composite (GA) is the largest at 3.64%, the wulung bamboo laminate composite (GV) is the largest at 3.01, each under the condition of square root of time 700 sec. Bamboo fibre belongs to cellulose fibre. Its water absorption properties are higher than fibreglass. High water absorption is a major drawback of cellulose fibres, as the main cause of degradation in the mechanical performance of the composite. Cellulose fibres absorb moisture due to their hydrophilic nature caused by the presence of multiple H-bonds (-OH groups) between the cell wall macromolecules in the fibre